


The Isle of Mist

by goldensummertime



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Takes place in the universe of red/blue rescue team and tds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23329579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldensummertime/pseuds/goldensummertime
Summary: Every so often, a human is transported to the Pokemon world, and takes the form of a Pokemon.This is not one of those stories.Aya, a Sneasel with no memories, is transported to the Isle of Mist, an island shrouded in mystery and suspense. With nowhere to go and no clue of her past, she joins an Exploration Guild in order to make some sense of where she is and what she should do.Unfortunately, with the ever present Tower looming over the residents of the island, living a peaceful life is easier said than done, and Aya must team up with various other Pokemon in order to prevent their lives from falling into disarray.Updates every Wednesday
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well... With this coronavirus thing, I've finally dusted off this idea I've had for like two years. I'm struggling with my original story, and I'm itching to write something. So here you go.

The snow blanketing the forest ground crunched as a stocky, four-legged Pokémon strode forth with care, and its grey fur reflected only a hint of the low light from the moon. The metal mask covering its head chilled its skin, and a puff of warm air floated from the slats near its mouth. Its partner, fur yellowed instead of grey, pawed at the thickened snow and pressed its own mask to the ground.

“Just a few more miles.” The grey one stopped and turned around with a swish of its finned tail. “Just a few more miles and we’ll be free.” It watched its partner paw at the ground and sighed, another puff of air coming from its mouth. “If we can just find something to eat…”

A crack sounded through the air, and both Pokémon froze in place, muscles tensing, and the grey one felt its throat constrict in fear. “They’ve found us already? We didn’t trip any of the systems!”

Shouting erupted forth, and light from a fire type lit the air. The Pokémon bolted, scattering snow in their wake, as viney tendrils shot forth from the cover of the trees and bushes. 

“Catch them! We can’t allow them to escape.”

“Fleurilly! Fleurilly, stay near me.” The grey Pokémon slid on icy snow and its shoulder thudded into a tree, and a yelp tore at its throat as snow covered its fur.

The yellowed Pokémon tore at the snowy ground, but the tendrils were faster, and wrapped around the hind legs and haunches of the Pokémon. Fleurilly crashed into the snow head-first with a scream, and bird-like front claws tore at the greenery. For every vine snapped, two took its place, and eventually the vines wrapped around the frozen helmet. The scent of sleep powder hung in the air, and the grey furred Pokémon stood up and shook the snow from its shoulders.

It exhaled, a cloud of warmth from its mouth, and it turned tail and fled.

The snow scattered to the ground and settled, leaving nothing but deep prints in the snow.

A Pokémon cloaked in shadow stepped forward and placed a large paw onto the back of Fleurilly.

“What should we do? He has a head start on us.”

The large Pokémon exhaled and looked down to the pinned Pokémon. “We have one. That is enough. If we have her, we’ll get him back soon.”

“Right.”

One last scream, and the Pokémon disappeared once again into the trees, and it was as if no scuffle had ever occurred.

Like all goings-on related to the mythical Tower, the event faded from memory.

Such as it was on the Isle of Mist.

. . .

Nothing but a darkened forest greeted Aya the Sneasel as she stood up, and the sound of a portal shutting echoed behind her. She rubbed her arms and stood, leaves and pine cones crunching beneath her feet, but nothing familiar betrayed her location. No distinct landmark, no particularly tall tree, no rock formation. 

_…Wait. What was I just doing?_ She rubbed her head and pulled at her short fur, but nothing came to mind. She huffed and ran a claw over her nose before she peered at the sharpened appendages.

Where was she? The forest crunched under her feet as she took a few steps forward, but the light of the crescent moon was hardly enough to light a path, and she found herself merely looking around in every direction. She exhaled and rubbed her ears. What did she know for certain? Her name was Aya. She was a Sneasel. She… She was in a forest at night. Past midnight, if the moon’s angle was to be trusted. A forest… Where?

She didn’t know anything. She frowned and rubbed her brows.

A branch snapped behind her, and she whirled around to deal with her unexpected visitor, but instead of a rush attack, it was merely a strange, helmeted Pokémon with grey fur. He stood at attention, and even in the low light she could see the muscles beneath his fur. “What are you doing here? This is my territory. You can’t be here, transported by portal or no.”

She gulped and took a step back. She could see the gleaming eyes of this new Pokémon, and she could see his muscles tense and loosen as if challenging her to make a move. “No… I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t even know where I am. If you… If you could give me directions to the nearest town, I’d be very grateful…”

“You are in the Mossy Mountains. The nearest town is a few days from here, heading east.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest, and Aya felt her fur stand up. “Is that all?”

“Yes. Thank you. Which way is east?”

A pause. She stared at him as he blinked a few times, but after a few tense second he only pawed at his mask with his strange, bird-like front feet. “How do you expect me to know? It’s the middle of the night.”

“You’re up walking around in the middle of the night. I thought… you would know.”

He snorted at her, but if he was glaring, she couldn’t tell through that mask of his. “Whatever. Wait until morning. I don’t care.”

A howl pierced the night, and Aya felt herself freeze in place. “What was that?”

He shrugged and his helmet tugged his head a bit further to the right than what was considered normal. “Ghost Pokémon. Or, more specifically, the ones murdered in a previous life.”

She gulped and glanced over her shoulder. “Spirits? I thought Ghost Pokémon were ordinary Pokémon.”

“Some. Some aren’t. It depends on lineage. But here?” His voice thinned as he sat down, and she could have sworn he was smirking under that mask of his. “There’s plenty of the latter.”

She breathed out, and her cold breath formed a mist in the summer air. “Then what are you doing, being all jovial past midnight with spirits haunting around? You may just seem creepier than the deceased floating around us.”

“Stop with that tone. I’m merely making sure Pokémon like you aren’t trespassing. I have things to worry about, after all.” He took a step forward, and she took one back in turn.

Another screech and she felt a small voice make its way up her throat. He tilted his head. “Don’t tell me you, a Dark type Pokémon, are scared.”

She hugged her arms to her chest and felt tears prick at her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re fine with those spirits constantly at your feet? You must be crazy, picking a place like this to live and skulk around.”

“I’m a normal type.” He turned around and flicked his fin-like tail at her. “I have nothing to fear.”

Another screech and she felt herself rushing forward. “Please, please let me stay the night at your place. As soon as daybreak hits, I’ll be gone, please don’t leave me out here with them!”

He huffed once and refused to meet her eye. “What have you in exchange? You said you remembered nothing. You don’t even have information to barter.”

“I…” She glanced at her claws. “I have skill. I can do a delivery in the town for you so that you can remain on your territory. I can make myself useful somehow.”

“Despite being such a scaredy-cat?” He snorted and she felt her heart drop. “Don’t make me laugh. You need to wizen up and get over your fear.”

She killed the wail in her throat before it could show itself and wiped at her eyes. Guess there was no other choice. But when she lifted her head, she noticed the grey Pokémon had paused and was looking through the trees. “What? Do you see one?”

“…You’ve compromised my position.”

She squinted her eyes and looked down. “What? I don’t know what you’re-”

In one solid action, he swung around and pinned her to the ground, her back thudding against the earth, and he dug his claws to her chest and into the ground. “Who sent you? Who are you?!”

“I don’t know!” She pressed her claws to his leg and pushed up. “I don’t know anything! I don’t remember anything but my name!”

He lifted his head to look around the area, and a flamethrower tore through the trees. “Tch! You can deal with that nonsense, then!” He leapt off of her and sped in the opposite direction. “It’s payment for disturbing my rest!”

She squeaked once as another flamethrower ripped through the forest and raised her hands over her head, but the Charizard that had sent such a flare ignored her completely and soared after that strange, grey Pokémon. She exhaled and let her hands fall, but her head snapped around as sounds of other moving Pokémon echoed across the trees.

The Charizard had attacked first, and the grey Pokémon had fled. That was enough to make up her mind. She pushed herself to her feet and sprinted after the Pokémon.

Charizard’s flamethrower was too accurate, and though the grey Pokémon withstood a few scorches, the fourth one crumpled him to his feet, and the full weight of an adult Charizard slammed into his side. The pair tumbled across the forest floor and scattered clumps of pine needles and dirt, and the flying lizard pinned him to the ground with a thud. “Hand yourself in silently, villain! An S rank like you should give up struggling.”

The grey Pokémon pushed against the body of the Charizard with weakening blows, and his helmet felt hot against his skin, but before fear could take over his heart completely, an icy wind pulsed around the wings of the lizard. Charizard flinched and looked up. “What? It didn’t say you had a partner.”

“Well, surprise for you.” He kicked his back legs up and pushed the Pokémon off of him before he stood to see eye-to-eye with the Sneasel. She gripped her hands into fists.

“I won’t stand by and just watch as-”

A Ludicolo slammed into her side and sent her tumbling across the forest floor. “This is our kill, Sneasel! Go find your own outlaw mission.”

She slid to a halt and dug her claws into the ground. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not going to just let you kill an innocent Pokémon.”

The Charizard huffed and a cloud of smoke pooled out of his nostrils. “We’ll let the law decide that. Our mission is to take him in for due process.”

Aya slid her claws against each other. “What has he done, then? Who are you to decide?”

“Not us, the police.” Ludicolo stood to his full height, and Aya felt her spine tingle. “If you’re so determined to get in our way, then we’ll take you in too.”

The grey Pokémon clicked his tongue. “It seems you won’t need my place to stay at tonight. The jail cell seems to be calling your name more.” The grey Pokémon attempted to struggle away, but the Charizard had pinned him again, and the moment she turned her head to look back, Ludicolo had pinned her arms to her side. She sighed out of her mouth.

Oh well. It would be a free ride to the next town.


	2. Chapter 2

Aya gazed up at the Toxicroak seated at the wooden desk as he shuffled through a few papers, picking apart a pile as the Charizard and Ludicolo stood rather boredly to the side. Argus sighed with a whuff of his chest and absentmindedly pawed at the bars of the cage. She gulped as the Toxicroak finally turned his attention to the group with a sigh. “So Blaize, what you’re telling me is that this Sneasel attacked you with no worry in what appeared to be a defense of the outlaw.” He raised a paper and smacked it, and Aya recognized Argus’s profile. “The information given here says that Argus always works alone, and it was adamant about that. Our intel is never wrong.”

The Charizard slammed his palms into the desk and rattled the frames on the brick wall. Aya flinched and wilted closer to the table. “What the hell is this, then? This Sneasel attacked me in defense of the other Pokémon. I didn’t attack her at all. I even have an eyewitness, Puddle saw everything.”

Puddle shrugged and nodded. “It’s true. I watched Blaize chase after Argus, and the Sneasel went after him. I had to step in.”

The Toxicroak nodded with a sigh. “I see, but we have no wanted information for a uniquely-colored Sneasel. I would have remembered. Blue-eared Sneasel are incredibly uncommon; she wouldn’t be able to get away with much.”  
Aya raised an eyebrow as she rubbed a thumb over her longer ear.

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that she attacked me in defense of an outlaw! That’s punishable by the law.”

“I didn’t know he was an outlaw,” she said with a lowered voice, and both Blaize and the Toxicroak turned to face her. “I thought he was just being attacked for no reason.”

“Yeah, she appeared in front of me maybe five minutes before.” Argus rolled to his side and his helmet scratched against the floor. “I don’t know her at all.”

Blaize clicked his jaw, but grabbed the paper from the officer’s hand. “Just give me the bounty then,” he said after a moment’s deliberation. He glared down at Aya. “And don’t interfere with my work again.”

She gulped, but nodded, and watched as the Toxicroak handed the bag of poké to the team. They left with little more noise, and she let a breath out of her chest when the air in the room finally stilled. The officer finally turned to face her with a thin smile. “I apologize for you being tangled up in that. Blaize often can’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I’m Vernon, the head Officer in Seashell city. Who are you?”

She dipped her head. “My name is Aya. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything beyond that. Apparently I appeared from a portal in the middle of the forest early this morning. I was hoping to ask around in the city and see if anyone could recognize me.”

Vernon rubbed his chin and closed his eyes in thought. “A blue-eared Sneasel is a rarity indeed. You would stick in anyone’s memory. But the fact that you have none of your own is worrying. I’ll have to add that to the list.”

She tilted her head as Vernon moved behind his desk and pulled out a clipboard. “List? Is amnesia that common?”

He sighed out of his nose as he wrote something down on the packet of paper. “The Tower causes anomalies like this every so often. We’ll find a Pokémon wandering around, suffering the side-effects of whatever occurred at that location. Amnesia is a common one.”

“Tower? What Tower?”

Vernon leaned forward and crossed his arms on his desk. “There’s a Tower on the northern peninsula of this island. No one knows for certain what goes on in there, but we do know that Pokémon who are captured and taken there almost never come out, or at least come out as themselves.” He nodded toward Argus, who had taken to facing the wall. “He’s one of the lucky ones. Remembers himself, just not what happened in the Tower. He’s the healthiest of the survivors, and without him, we’d likely still be lost in what to do.” He sighed and leaned back again. “If only the Guildmasters could put their heads together like in the old days, the Tower would be but a distant memory.”

“Aya isn’t from the Tower at least,” Argus said from his prone position. “They don’t deal in portals there. They just terrorize Pokémon.”

Vernon nodded his head. “Well, I can escort you around town and see if anyone recognizes you. It’s the least I can do after your eventful morning. Perhaps Guildmaster Eira herself will know who you are.”

“How long has the Tower been there?”

Vernon stared ahead, and Argus pawed at his helmet. “Longer than I’ve been a resident of this island. Team Tides lead their attack on the place nearly two decades ago. Perhaps… forty years?”

Aya clicked her jaw. Forty years of terrorizing the island? And if that one team had failed two decades ago and hadn’t reattempted, they were too powerful for any one team to take down. If they wanted to get rid of that threat, it’d take the whole island.  
But they had to have known that. If they hadn’t lead an assault, it meant only one thing: the Tower was too powerful for the Island to get rid of.

“Someday, the Legendary Pokémon will descend and deliver us. Or something.” He winked at her. “For now, all we can do is prevent the Tower from taking any more Pokémon and assist those who escape, like Argus.”

“I see.”

Vernon dipped his head and stepped away from his desk, gesturing Aya to the door. “Before we head to visit the Guildmaster, we’ll stop by the café. If anyone recognizes you, they’ll be there.”

She nodded and followed him toward the door. “Thank you again for your help. I don’t know how I could ever thank you…”

“No need. I’m an officer. It’s what I do.”

She’d been carried to the city in the middle of the night, and hadn’t been able to view her surroundings with any sort of accuracy. Now, in the daylight, she could see the shimmer of the frost, the darker green trees, the straight and clean buildings. Though the city itself was a bit colder than she was used to in the middle of the summer, a shiver of excitement ran through her spine. It appeared to be still in the morning, but the clouds covered the sun and she couldn’t give an exact guess. Pokémon walked through the streets, some chatting with neighbors and some determined on arriving at their destination. She could see a large tower to the south of the city, bricks iced over.

“The café will be this way,” Vernon said, breaking her out of her thoughts, and Aya nodded a bit nervously as he began walking to the left. 

A few Pokémon side-eyed her, possibly due to her unique coloration, but none came up to her or waved at her when unprompted, and her spirits sank slightly as they arrived the front of one of the largest buildings in the city. A plaque at the top read ‘Kangaskhan’s Café’, carved into the darker wood of the sign, and Vernon straightened up as he paused in front of the doors. “Hopefully it won’t be too busy today. I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.”

Aya shrugged, but didn’t say anything further, and watched as he pushed the double doors open. 

The café was lit with chandeliers hung on the ceiling, and an Oricorio tended to the candles. There appeared to be ten or so round tables closer to the café section, and she watched a Feraligatr and Sylveon tend to the food orders, chatting and arguing all the while. To the left of the building, a Kangaskhan doled out storage orders, with a Cinccino dusting the frames hanging up behind the longer tables.

All in all, it seemed a calming place, and though many groups of Pokémon were talking and having discussions, it didn’t ring too loudly in her ears.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to recognize her as Vernon led her towards Kangaskhan, and she felt her ears wilt, and her tail drooped a bit lower to the ground. He tapped her shoulder with a comforting smile and cleared his throat as he turned toward Kangaskhan. “I hope business has been treating you well today, Lady Kangaskhan.”

The Pokémon’s back straightened as she set down an item, and as she turned around a smile broke out onto her face. “Officer! It’s been a few days. Or perhaps even a week. I hope the exploration teams haven’t been treating you too poorly.”

He waved his hand and leaned an arm across the counter. “No. Team Incense stopped by this morning, but they didn’t seem any more ornery than normal. But I do have a few questions for you, relating to this Sneasel.”

Aya cleared her throat and waved a paw, and the Kangaskhan waved back. “Aya here fell out of a portal this morning and is absent her memories. We were wondering if you had perhaps seen anyone like her before, or maybe knew someone who does?”

Lady Kangaskhan rubbed her chin with a sigh and glanced out across the café. “No, if I’d seen a Sneasel like her, I certainly would have remembered it. But perhaps Team Crystalize may know her, they’ve traveled many more places than I have.” She gestured over to the café with her thumb. “I think they’re just goofing off right now, so if you’d tell them to get back on track…”

Vernon nodded and gestured for Aya to follow him as they walked to where Team Crystalize was serving out some orders. The Feraligatr snapped a comment to the back, and she heard the Sylveon respond in kind, but their accent was a bit jumbled, and she squinted as she tried to piece it together. “Good morning Crunchy. I hope work is… going alright.”

The Feraligatr sighed and ran a hand across his brow. “If Golden would just get her act in gear, maybe we wouldn’t be struggling.”

“I heard that. I’m the one holding this café together.”

Crunchy shook his head and turned back to Vernon. “What did you want to order today? More coffee?”

“Actually, nothing. I have a few things to ask of you.”

He sighed and rested his elbow on the counter. “We’ve published our story in a book already. If you must, I can give you directions to the library. It’ll be more accurate than our memory now anyhow.”

Vernon waved his hand. “No, not about that. That’s said and done. I’d prefer to leave you two in your retirement anyhow.”

“Are you calling me old?”

“Older than I am, at any rate.” He chuckled. “It’s about this Sneasel. Argus found her early this morning, and she seems to be suffering from amnesia. Either of you happen to recognize her?”

The Sylveon finally poked her head out from behind the dividing wall and frowned. “Nope. Never seen her in my life. I’d remember a blue sneasel. You too, right Crunchy?”

He nodded at his partner and rubbed his chin. “She’s probably not from our continent, then. Guildmaster Eira may know a thing or two though, I’d go ask her.”

“That was our next stop, but I figured that since you two are so well traveled,” Vernon said, “I may as well ask you.”

“Sorry we couldn’t be more of help.”

“What’s your name, kid?” Golden piped up from the back. “We can pass it around, maybe one of our connections will know you, someone in our team.”

“Oh, sorry.” She cleared her throat and bowed her head. “My name is Aya. Thank you for your help.”

“No problem.” Crunchy smiled, showing his teeth. “Every few decades, we in the Pokémon world stumble upon someone with mysterious amnesia. Golden was one. The first. In time, things will fall together.”

“If she’s not human, it doesn’t count. And it’s been less than a decade since Temporal Tower was saved, so that doesn’t count either.”

Crunchy rolled his eyes but shrugged. “Guess she’s right. Best of luck to you anyway.”

The pair exited the café with dampened spirits on Aya’s part, but Vernon tapped her on the shoulder. “We have yet to discuss this with the guildmaster. I’ll bet she has a contact somewhere who knows who you are.”

“But if I came out of a portal, I could be from anywhere in this world. Team Crystalize is from a different continent. Who’s to say I’m from around here?”

He waved a finger in the air and continued to walk. “The Isle of Mist is a frequent stop for travelers, since it’s right between the Air and Grass continents. Guildmaster Eira also has a strong network web. Chances are, she’ll know someone.”

Aya sighed, but held onto that small chance as they arrived in the front of the guild, the tall tower she’d spied from the police station. Closer up, the height of the building cast a shadow across the ground, but she didn’t feel chilled by the shade. Vernon dipped his head, and she cast her eyes across the carvings above the entry. “Welcome to Eira’s Guild, where Explorers from all over the world come to train.”

He pressed the light grey wooden doors open, and they swung inwards with a creak. Aya inhaled, and took a step forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I live in the middle of nowhere, it is genuinely a struggle to get these chapters up. Makes me wonder how UPLOADING VIDEOS FOR CLASS is going to pan out in the end. I can barely bring up ao3 lol.  
> I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. It's definitely shorter than my last fanfiction, as far as chapter length goes, but I wanted it to be easier to digest. The chapters will probably get later on, I think. If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to leave it in the comments as well. I did research on the average age of Pokemon in order to have the time periods be realistic, but it turns out that no one really knows, so I'm going to have their ages be a bit longer than humans, because that's more interesting to me.  
> Good luck with everything in the world, and happy reading~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Type:Null a lot. I reset for a shiny one.

The creaking of the doors echoed deeply into Aya’s chest as she stepped forward, a pace behind Officer Vernon, and she inhaled at the sight of the ice-blue color of the stone composing the inner room of the first floor. Though she was an ice-type Pokémon, a chill of excitement ran up her spine. Intricate carvings decorated the frames of the doors and the columns holding up the ceiling. A staircase to the back lead to an upper floor, and the furniture across this first floor shown a deep brown. The brick appeared solid and sturdy, protecting the guildmembers from the wind and rain. 

Many Pokémon were moving about the floor, but instead of stopping with any of them to chat, Vernon lead her over to the information desk, where a Swampert was organizing some papers while discussing something of interest to a Haunter. Vernon cleared his throat, and the Swampert turned to face him with a hint of a confused expression. “Oh officer, I hadn’t expected you yet. It’s a bit early for the weekly outlaw updates, but I can call the Guildmaster if you need her.”

Vernon waved his hand with a shake of his head. “It’s not about the outlaw updates, but if you could call Guildmaster Eira down, I would be very grateful.” He gestured to Aya, and she straightened her back as the Haunter and Swampert looked to her. “This Sneasel seems to be suffering from amnesia, and I was wondering if she would be able to assist in any way. Though Argus says it is unrelated to the tower,” he said, turning back, “I wish to get her second opinion.”

The Swampert nodded and waved his hand at the Haunter, who spun around with a goofy expression and disappeared into the wall. “She’ll be down soon. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?”

“No, everything else is as it should be. No reason for alarm.”

Aya side-eyed a pair of whispering Vulpix and glanced back to the Swampert. “What do you do at this guild? Outlaw missions?”

The Swampert shrugged. “That is a part of it.” He gestured with his large hand, and Aya cast her gaze across the floor. “Here, at Eira’s Guild, we train exploration teams so that they can become a fully-realized team and graduate our curriculum. This involves taking on delivery requests, exploration requests, and the occasional outlaw mission, if we deem the team strong enough to handle it. Otherwise, it’s usually graduated teams who take on the more difficult outlaw missions. Each assignment prepares the team for the real world, and once they graduate, they’re able to fund themselves as an official exploration team.”

Aya ran a hand across her chin. “But that’s a lot of teams. Wouldn’t there be too many?”

The Swampert chuckled and shifted a piece of paper. “Not everyone graduates, and older teams retire all the time. Besides, the Tower is enough of a problem. I won’t complain about having more able Pokémon to help with that.”

She clicked her jaw. “Well, what about the Rescue Teams, then? Are they not a part of this?”

“We’re an Exploration Guild, so we train exploration teams. The Rescue Teams are entirely self-funded, and they operate through the Rescue Organization. They focus on rescuing other Pokémon and doing their own delivery missions. They also help when relief is necessary, like during natural disasters. Their skill set is different from ours.” He leaned back. “We blaze the trail for them to tame.”

She nodded her head. That made sense to a certain extent. It would be strange if an exploration guild held a monopoly on requests, they could charge whatever amount they wanted. And different Pokémon held different desires as to how they wanted their lives to go.

“Is there anything else I can help you with? It’s not particularly busy today, and if you’re more interested in exploring, I’d be more than happy to offer you more information.”

She rubbed her nose and squinted downwards. “I don’t know. It sounds interesting, but I don’t even know where to start…”

“Well,” he started, grabbing a piece of paper, “all teams start out with their own room, bag, and map. We give them beginning missions tailored to their strength, and from there, they’re able to pick the missions that they do to graduate at their own pace. Sometimes we hold travels to the Tower area, but that’s only for older teams. Otherwise, we schedule guild-wide explorations to complete our map-making. Sometimes this involves going to other continents.” He handed her the paper, and she glanced over it. “Here’s the preliminary information. You can look over it later if you’re still interested.”

She grabbed the paper, but before she could absorb any knowledge, the Haunter returned with a twirl and startled her. “She’ll be down in a few seconds.”

Aya couldn’t see the upper floor of the tower from her position, but when she noticed the apprentices parting in a wave, she stood straighter next to Vernon and steadied her breathing. A Glaceon walked between the teams, dipping her head to a few of them in silent acknowledgment. Her feet strode over the stone with a silent gracefulness, and even Aya couldn’t pick up much of a sound. The Glaceon paused in front of the desk and smiled at Vernon as she settled herself to the ground. “It is a pleasure to see you, Officer. I believe you have business with me?”

Vernon nodded his head and waved his hand above Aya’s head. “Team Incense found this Sneasel this morning with Argus. She apparently fell out of some sort of portal, and doesn’t have any of her previous memories. I had thought it may have been related to the Tower, so I wished to talk more to you about that.”

Upon mention of that place, Eira’s face twisted, just slightly, enough to where Aya almost didn’t catch it, but she felt the temperature in the room drop. “I see. That is unfortunately a bit more serious than I’d anticipated.” She stood up with a twitch of her tail. “I will show you two to my office so we may speak in private.” She glanced toward the Haunter. “Henly, I’ll also have you be witness."

Henly saluted to her with a jerk. “Of course, Guildmaster. I’d have it no other way.”

Eira finally turned to smile at Aya. “It’s a bit of a climb I’m afraid, but tender words require thick walls.”

Aya gulped and followed behind her after Vernon gestured forward with his hand, and she caught the muttered whispers of the apprentices. Some met her eyes, while others looked away, and others further merely disappeared from the room, bored or otherwise busy.

Her skin tickled at being exposed to so many different Pokémon at once, and she rubbed her shoulders.

The mess hall on the second floor wasn’t particularly busy, considering it was before noon, and she could only see two Pokémon at work; A Brionne dusting off the tables, and a Heliolisk adjusting dinnerware. There were three long rows of tables, suggesting many apprentices currently in service at the guild, but before she could look across the room much more, they were already ascending the staircase, and the second floor disappeared from view.

After a few more floors of apprentices’ rooms and some storage closets, the group arrived at a modest door with light blue paint, and Eira pressed her paw to the front and pushed it open. Aya gazed at the room in front of her, bathed in light from a large window to the east, with a bed set to the side away from the light, adorned with softer fabrics and cottons. A desk sat near the window with a feather pen on the top and some pieces of paper stacked and organized. Eira cleared her throat and settled herself in front of her desk in a chair as Henly shut the door behind them. “Alright Officer, what was it specifically that you wished to discuss?”

Vernon dipped his head and began to speak, but the words floated by Aya’s ears as she stared out of the window. The light of day cascaded across the trees of green, reflecting their deep color, the town sprawled out before her in a grid fashion, and in the distance she could see the hints of a large lake that disappeared past the horizon. The Guildmaster must have built her tower with this in mind, as there was no other explanation as to the terrific view spread out before her.

“So I was wondering if this seemed like anything you’ve perhaps heard of before,” Vernon concluded, and Aya turned her head back and straightened her back. “Argus believes her not to be connected, but I wished to have a second opinion. Your memory is much better than his; it’s still spotty when connected to the tower.”

Eira nodded before she closed her eyes, her ears twitching. “The only Pokémon I’ve heard of that can perform a complete memory wipe is Uxie, and Uxie isn’t connected with the tower in any way. Beyond that, the only thing I’ve heard of that is close enough is something like Argus’s memory, and he can recall most things. Beyond that, the Tower wouldn’t have left her unscathed. She’s uninjured, correct? We would see visual trauma.”

Vernon sighed and rubbed his chin. “Yes, that doesn’t quite match up…”

“Beyond that, if she’d escaped from the Tower, an associate of theirs would have put a wanted poster into circulation.” Eira slid a piece of paper across the desk and grabbed her feather pen. “I’ve never encountered a blue-eared sneasel in my life, which makes me wonder if it is indeed Uxie who is involved. But only Team Wind Rose has any sort of constant connection with them, and they’re not due here for another few months.”

“Would the Tower wish to create new types of Pokémon? Like a blue-eared sneasel?” 

Eira narrowed her eyes at Vernon’s insinuation, but eventually shook her head. “What does color have to do with utility? Look at poor Argus. They care about physical strength and intelligence.”

“What did they do to Argus?” Aya felt the words come out of her mouth before she could stop them, but Eira merely shook her head.

“He is no sort of Pokémon I’ve ever seen in my life. A chimera. That’s what we’ve taken to calling him in official documents, but it seems a bit cruel to call him that to his face.”

Vernon leaned down a bit to get closer to Aya’s eye level. “We believe he’s a forced combination between a flying type, a water type, and a normal type. Perhaps even a never-before-seen Legendary or Mythical Pokémon. It would make sense.”

Aya shuddered and rubbed her shoulder. “That sounds awful.”

Eira nodded her head. “He’s lucky to have escaped with his sanity intact, which is why we usually assign him community service for his misdemeanors. Extended jail time would merely ruin his life further, and he would never become a better Pokémon.”  
“He’s learned not to steal things of value, at any rate.”

“Yes, but Team Greenery did not appreciate having their orbs stolen.” Eira marked down something on her paper. “He is getting better, but I fear he may never recover to the state he had been before being captured by the Tower.”

“Any improvement is improvement. I just wonder when he’ll plateau.” Vernon rubbed his chin again while Henly shrugged his shoulders.

“Why would he steal orbs? Are they expensive?”

“Not at all,” Henly said with a wave of his hand. “Their only use is in mystery dungeons. No non-team affiliated Pokémon has use for them.”

He wouldn’t steal something for the heck of it. Argus may be a so-called ‘problem child’, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d called that place his territory… Perhaps he had a stash of dungeon-related items. But why?

“He likes his protection, that’s for sure,” Vernon agreed. “But Team Greenery keeps their most valuable orbs in storage, right?”

Eira nodded. “It’s intriguing. Argus has never shown motivation to be part of any sort of exploration or rescue team.” She marked down one last note and looked up again. “But back to you. I apologize for being unable to help more.”

“No, now we know that the Tower is most likely not involved,” Vernon answered for her and smiled. “So, all we have to do is wait for Team Wind Rose, right?”

“That’s what I will do.” Aya clicked her claws together. “I appreciate your help, but your life is not mine, so I can’t ask you to do more than you already have.”

“Then what will you do until that time?” Eira crossed her paws on the desk. “Your memories will likely not come back normally, and I’m unsure of which location has any job openings.”

“Certainly not the café,” Henly said with a mumble.

Aya sighed through her nose and glanced out the window again. The lake reflected some light back to her eyes and she blinked. She shifted her claws, scraping them across the paper in her right hand, and brought it up to look at it.

Recruitment Call  
Any team wishing to begin at Eira’s Guild should report to the front desk. Further details will be discussed there.  
We are looking for Pokémon with a yearning of exploration and a desire to protect the world.  
We train you. No down payment required. Lodging and two meals a day included.

~Courtesy of Guildmaster Eira

Her eyes narrowed, and her grip on the paper tightened.

Eira let a cold breath escape her mouth. “So, you’d rather be part of an exploration team?”

Aya looked up and nodded her head. “Even if I have to wait for a possible connection, there has to be something out there connected to me. There’s no point in sitting around doing nothing. Besides, even if I’m not connected to the Tower… If they hurt someone like Argus that much, I can’t just sit around here and pretend it’s not still happening.”

Eira sighed and jumped down from her chair before she walked to the window. “There was a time when the call of the wild shouted out to me. I couldn’t ignore it then. Those were… better days.” She sighed and turned around, her tail gracing across the wall. “I’m older now, too old to reliably explore, but I can pass on my knowledge to others in the hopes they don’t make the same mistakes I did. Hope that they can stand on my shoulders and make the world a better place.” She sat down with a small smile. “However, it is not something you should take lightly. Exploring is difficult, and it comes with its own set of dangers. Don’t feel as if it is something you have to do given your situation. This city has many lifetypes available, so don’t feel as if this is the only thing you have to do.”

Aya shook her head with a frown. “I can’t expect anyone else to find my memories for me. I can’t put that upon them. I need to take my fate into my own hands and figure out why my memories were wiped. That’s something I have to do for myself. I have to find out who I am.”

Vernon relaxed his shoulders next to her and Eira nodded. “If you wish to become an apprentice at my guild I won’t stop you. I will have to kindly request that you either find a partner to make a team with, or join an already existing team, but this is mostly for your protection. I’m sure you don’t even remember what a mystery dungeon is.”

Aya shook her head. “But I’ll learn.”

Vernon hummed as Henly floated over to Eira’s desk. “What about Argus? He knows a lot about the Tower, memory loss, the lot. And he has quite a few community service hours to be completed.”

Eira raised an eyebrow as she frowned and Henly’s mouth twisted to a bit of a grimace. “Are you sure about that? He doesn’t listen very well to authority, and he doesn’t play well with others. Surely another team, or another partner, will be a better fit for her.”

“Think of it this way: will Argus ever stop what he’s doing and get a better life without a bit of a push? I honestly can’t think of anywhere else that would take him. At least here he has you and Henly watching him, and a team member who’s going through something similar to him. Maybe he’ll respond well.”

Eira tapped the side of her paw a few times while Henly shrugged and glanced over to her. “He’s not wrong.”

“No, he’s not, but I also have to think about my guild when I consider letting him be a part of it.” Eira sighed, stood up, and her tail twitched a few times.

“He’s only not allowed to be on a team because of his criminal history, not any one specific crime. And we both know he just does it to act out.”

“How about instead of us discussing it, we ask Aya herself?” Henly turned to face her, and she stiffened as the other Pokémon did the same. 

She gulped and rubbed the back of her neck, the paper crinkling in her other hand. “Well, I guess I’ve technically known him the longest out of everyone else. But do you really think this amnesia will be enough to make us bond? He seems… closed off.”

“Everyone is closed off at first,” Vernon said as he tapped her shoulder. “But whether or not you two connect is up to the both of you, not fate.”

“Besides, this is his chance at freedom, even if it comes at a cost. He’s asked to be part of a team before many times. It was only a few months ago that he gave up,” Henly added, and Eira shrugged.

“If Aya is fine with it, then I suppose I can make an exception. But she’ll have to be quite the strong leader to keep him in line.”

She exhaled. No matter how long this travel might take, even if she ended up being unable to find anything, that was better than sitting around, waiting for her memories to reappear. “I’ll do what it takes. I’ll train to be the leader of an exploration team, and I won’t let any of you down.” She straightened her back and pressed a hand to her chest. “I swear on my memories.”

Eira dipped her head with a smile and her tail twitched. “Then, I’m looking forward to your achievements, and I wish you the best of luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My wifi is very bad, this isolation thing is kind of draining because I can't see my S.O., but at least I have Pokemon. I'm playing through the DX rescue team game, and I'm finally stretching my wings with teambuilding, so hopefully that can reflect into the story later.  
> This fic will take a bit to pick up, but once it does, it's probably going to be pretty emotional. Let's hope I can keep it going. Good luck with your own social distancing. It's hard. Wear gloves. Cough in your arms. Etc.  
> ~Happy Reading


End file.
